THE SPIRIT OF ˇYGIMANTAS AUGUSTAS

 

ˇYGIMANTO AUGUSTO DVASIA

Netekęs mylimosios ˛monos, karalius ˇygimantas Augustas buvo nesuraminamas, nuolat ją prisimindavo ir ligi pat mirties gedulo ˛enklų nenusiėmė…………….

 

 

English Translation by Gloria O’Brien

 

 

King ˇygimantas Augustas was inconsolable at the loss of his beloved wife, remembered her always, and wore signs of mourning for the rest of his own life.

And even then, after his own death, his spirit continued to visit places connected with her memory.

 

For long centuries, on summer evenings, as a full moon poured its silver beams over the sleeping streets of Vilnius, touching roofs and towers of mansions and churches, sprinkling the Neris river with a million tiny sparks, the ghost of the former King would be seen at the summit of the castle hill.

 

Sometimes the King would step down from the hill, and visit the lower castle, once so beautifully appointed during his own reign, now a forsaken ruin.  He would walk through the Radvila’s garden, where he first declared his love to Barbora and knew his love was returned, and would visit the house where Barbora lived with her mother.  And sometimes he would visit the cathedral, staying a long while in the royal chapel, the place that held his most joyous and

painful memories.  In the crypt of that chapel lay the remains of his first wife, El˛bieta, only sixteen years old at her death.  In the chapel, one fine evening, a priest blessed the secret marriage between him and his Barbora, and after just a few years of happiness, here she was laid to rest.

 

Time and neglect have contributed to the eventual destruction of all these precious remnants of memory.  No sign is left of the lower castle and Barbora’s house; the Radvila’s garden has vanished; and even the cathedral has changed from its orginal appearance.  The famous castle of Gediminas lies in ruins, signs of only one tower remaining……….

 

It was more than a hundred years ago, that ˇygimantas Augustas was last seen on the hilltop.  He stood with arms clasped behind his back, head bowed, sighing heavily.  After a long while, he covered his eyes with both hands, turned, walked away, and ………..never showed himself again.  There was nothing left to interest him.

 

Source:

From “Vilniaus Legendos”

Compiled by Stasys Lipskis and published by “ˇuvėdra”

 in Lithuania, 1998

© EnglishTranslation - Gloria O’Brien April 2006

 

This article was printed in Lithuanian Heritage Jan/Feb 2009

 

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